The Bayview Avenue House

The seminal work that consolidated the fluid lines of Luigi Rosselli Architects in the new century was this Bayview Avenue, Mosman house. Fifteen years on it has been revisited and rephotographed by Justin Alexander and Jane McNeill.

Taken under the soft, melancholic light of a winter day, the resulting images highlight the gentle patina of time and the wild growth of the garden designed by Vladimir Sitta {Terragram}, and planted and tended by Michael Bates (Bates Landscape Design).

Though they have seen neighbours come and go, the original owners are still there and are aging as gracefully as their home; around them the trees planted a decade-and-a-half ago are growing as fast as the surrounding architecture.

This project was one of the first Luigi Rosselli Architects projects to extensively feature sandstone walls in its construction. The client requested Inca style tight joints in the stonework and the stonemason laboured on the walls for months. When first installed, the stone was very white but over the years the lichens and mosses that flourish in coastal locations have softened and muted the whiteness and coloured the walls.

The well lived Luigi Rosselli Architects in interiors still have a bright and fresh quality, enhanced by bold colours and masterful artwork. We used some of the first resin kitchen benchtops and vanity units and surprisingly the deep orange colour of the kitchen benchtop has not faded at all despite lying under a skylight; the resin material was a product Luigi developed with manufacturer, Marblo, during the 1990s and applied in many restaurant designs from that time.

Some Luigi Rosselli Architects designed projects have survived real estate upheavals, family separations and passing design trends, but this home in particular highlights the importance of eschewing those trends and momentary fads and embracing a timeless aesthetic.